The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of hybrid Baptisia plant, botanically known as Baptisia ‘Midnight’ and will be referred to hereafter by its cultivar name, ‘Midnight’. The new cultivar represents a new false indigo, an herbaceous perennial grown for landscape use.
The new invention arose from an ongoing breeding program in a dedicated test plot in Glencoe, Ill. There are approximately 17 species of Baptisia that are native to North America, many of which have highly ornamental flowers and foliage and excellent adaptability to garden cultivation. The breeding program was established in 1995 with the goal of developing novel interspecific Baptisia hybrids with unique and superior garden attributes.
‘Midnight’ was selected as a single unique plant by the inventor in 2003 in Glencoe, Ill. after evaluating seedlings that derived from open-pollination of an unnamed plant of hybrid Baptisia (Baptisia tinctoria×Baptisia alba) in 1998. The Inventor believes that the pollen parent is an unnamed plant of Baptisia australis as it was growing next to the seed parent and because it was the only species utilized in the breeding program with blue-violet flowers.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar was first accomplished by stem cuttings in August of 2003 in Glencoe, Ill. by the inventor. The characteristics of this cultivar have been determined to be stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations.